


The Man Who Went Down East, But Came Up North

by Bay



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-07
Updated: 2011-12-07
Packaged: 2017-10-27 01:00:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/289843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bay/pseuds/Bay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Falman's time at Briggs had changed him for the better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Man Who Went Down East, But Came Up North

**Author's Note:**

> For fma_fic_contest LJ community's prompt, "Switch".

Vato Falman shivered, and it wasn’t from the cold. 

He was inside North City’s headquarters, Brigadier General Hoover inspecting the new recruits. The man from Central glanced at the other men, and they too had the same expression as him. He tried his best to steel himself against whatever may happen—he wasn’t sure why, actually. 

“Warrant Officer Falman?”

Falman was too focused on his own thoughts to notice when a higher ranking officer addressed him. After a brief moment of surprised, he snapped a salute. The high ranking officer narrowed his eyes, shook his head, and looked at the folders he was holding. 

“Says here you were at Central under the command of Colonel Mustang and that you’re well known for your sharp memory. Correct?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” Falman answered, keeping his posture as straight as possible.

Hoover bit his lip in disgust. Falman assumed the man didn’t like Mustang.

“I need more people with your skills, so you’ll be with me. Don’t mess it up.”

After the brigadier general went to inspect the next man, Falman let out a relieved sigh. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to enjoy North City very much.

+++

A month and a half after the transfer, Falman was doing well, shocking his new brigadier general. He could remember where all the different case files were located, which not even the lieutenants remembered where the murder cases were placed; he could remember the names of all the wanted alchemists; he knew exactly when certain murders took place; and he got the outcomes of all the trials stuck in his head. The man started to feel more comfortable in the North, but he still longed to go back to Central and be with the team.

One cloudy afternoon when no snow fell, Falman’s boss came to his desk, a wide grin spreading across his face.

“I have to say, Warrant Officer Falman, you’re doing excellent work. Mustang chooses his men well, it seems.”

Falman smiled but laughed nervously. He'd never been complimented like that before, not since his relocation to the North. He didn’t care, really, because he was just doing his job, but he had to admit that it was nice being told he'd done well. 

“Thank you, sir. I’m just doing my job.”

“Well, you’re doing it so well that you’re being promoted to second lieutenant.”

This time Falman’s face was filled with surprise and caution. He hadn’t done anything astonishing to get the promotion; he was just doing his job. Could this be another plan coming from Fuhrer Bradley, him being a hostage and all? He let himself not think of that possibility. Nonetheless, though, he was grateful the news, so he saluted. 

“Thank you, Brigadier General Hoover! I’ll make sure to work extra hard for you!”

When the brigadier general's lips twitched up, Falman’s eyes grew wide.

“Actually…”

+++

Falman never expected to move to Briggs. Apparently, second lieutenants have to be switched to that area due to the higher-ranking North officers being required to be stationed there. For one, it was a lot colder than North City, as it was located far up in the mountains. Second, General Olivier Armstrong. He had heard some nasty stories about her from Mustang that made him not want to go anywhere near her. Now he had no choice. 

On his first day at Briggs, Falman reported to Armstrong’s office. He stood up straight, forehead sweating, while across from him the general sat next to her desk and giving him a look like he was a waste of space. 

“General Hoover was impressed with your memory.”

“Yes, sir.”

Olivier nodded slowly and clasped her hands. “Memory alone won’t help you survive Briggs. You have to be swift, strong, and persistent. Survival of the fittest is the only rule here.”

Falman gulped. When he was at East City and even Central, he didn’t have the best aim when it came to guns; Havoc and Hawkeye were professionals with those. Alchemy wasn’t up in his alley; Mustang was a pro at that. Now he was alone in the North, and it was up to him to prove that he could handle Briggs.

+++

Olivier had Falman do remedial work to keep him busy. He had to wash the tanks, scrub the bathroom floors, even cook for the Briggs soldiers. What he hated most, though, was removing the icicles outside, as the ice-scraper was very heavy. 

One night, he tried to bring down an icicle a few feet from him, but he fell down after losing his balance. Falman groaned and rubbed his back.

“Need help?”

After the second lieutenant got up, he froze in shock when he saw a man as huge as a bear with mohawk hair and an automail arm.

“Er, no thanks. I can handle this.”

“Looks like you’re trying to get that icicle there,” the man said, pointing to the one Falman tried to get earlier. He chuckled. “I can get that for you.”

“Oh, no no! I can--” 

The man already made his move by leaping up from the ground using his mechanical arm to slash at the icicles, a line of them sprinkling down on the ground. He got back down on the ground with a smirk and held out his other hand in front of Falman.

“I’m Captain Buccaneer.”

“Second Lieutenant Falman,” he stuttered, still amazed. The two shook hands.

“You’re new here. I can tell, but I’m sure you’ll fit right in. Don’t get scared too much. If you do, you’ll get killed here. That’s Briggs’ one rule—survival of the fittest.”

All Falman could do was laughed nervously. 

+++

It was a total surprise to him when the Elric brothers paid a visit to Briggs, only for them to remind him he was being held prisoner. 

He had a funny feeling something bad would happen when Ed and Al showed up, and his instincts were right. First, a Homunculus called Sloth crashed into the fort. He made his move by shooting an icicle and, with the Elrics’ help, knocking the monster off the balcony. Then there was General Raven, who came to offer General Armstrong a chance at immortality. 

Four days after General Raven’s visit, Olivier asked Falman to come to her office. The moment he stepped in the room, his heart dropped into his stomach, remembering the last time he was in her office. There was still that “you’re a waste of space” look from her, but it looked softer than before.

“I have to admit, Falman, that was smart of you.

“Thank you, sir.” The man couldn’t help but grin. “That is very generous of you to say that.”

“I didn’t call you here to listen to me complimenting you,” she replied without cracking a smile. “I actually have an order for you.”

An order? Does this mean he would finally be able to do something that didn’t involve cleaning the fort or scraping icicles? Not wanting to interrupt, Falman continued listening. 

  
“After that red shrimp drew that transmutation circle, I was thinking. This conspiracy needs to be taken down by force.” 

Falman flinched. The general, going against the government? He could understand why, but it was very risky. 

“And how are you planning to do that?”

This time, he swore he saw a smile slip across the general’s lips. “It would be great to say that my forces can take the government down, but that would be foolish of me. Your defense is only as good as your offense.”

“Wait, you mean…”

“That I need some assistance? Yes. The East forces are good enough. I’ll need their strength to pull this plan off. With that in mind, I want Mustang's help with this.”

“Colonel Mustang? I thought you hated him!”

“Of course, I do!” Olivier spat. “However, he can talk Grumman into doing this.” She paused, then continued, “You’re going to let Mustang know about this.”

Before Falman could ask how he would be able to message the colonel, General Armstrong wrote something down on a small piece of paper and handed it to him. 

“Armstrong Flower Shop?” he muttered, a puzzled expression spreading across his face.

“You’re going to communicate with a woman who has been serving my family for quite a while. Tell her the message is from me and to give it to Roy Mustang. I want both of you to keep in contact with one another over what’s going on here and at Central. I’m sure you won’t mess this up.”

The second lieutenant wanted to give his thanks for being trusted with this important assignment, but instead he saluted with a straight face. To him, it was as if he had switched positions again.

“No, I won’t, sir!” 

+++

Six months passed and Falman was getting used to Briggs. Olivier had been transferred to Central, and he was a bit sad about it even though he was always afraid of her. That meant both Major Miles and Captain Buccaneer took over; techincally Central was running the show, but the Briggs men wouldn’t acknowledge it. He didn’t mind the captain as the two got along surprisingly well. The major, on the other hand, was still skeptical about Falman’s abilities. It didn’t matter, though. There were other things to worry about than impressing a major.

Falman waited for the Promised Day to come. Ever since he heard the news about it from Izumi Curtis, he had anticipated that day would be like no other and wanted to be prepared for it. He made no haste in letting Grumman know about it, and it wasn’t long until Mustang let Falman know (through the lady from the flower shop, no less) that Breda, Fuery, and Hawkeye were to join in the coup he was creating. Falman's role would be helping out the Briggs soldiers. He accepted that part with dignity and waited. 

Several nights before the Promised Day, Falman and Buccaneer were outside staring at the falling snow, thousands of stars popping up. Despite the beautiful scenery, the second lieutenant couldn’t bring himself to relax, his hands shaking.

“Tomorrow we go to Central,” the captain said. “I can’t wait to finally see the Armstrong mansion. It must be pretty huge if all the Briggs soldiers can fit in.”

“It can, from what Mustang told me. However, I don’t think I’m ready.” Falman sighed heavily, his breath visible in the air. “I’m not combat material. This mission needs people with brawn, not brains.”

Buccaneer snickered. “Hey, I need you in my team. You’re the one that knows Central inside and out, and you’re capable of issuing orders if something were to happen to me.”

Falman bit his lip at that thought. The captain looked like he could crush anything in his path and probably would be able to block bullets with his automail arm. Falman hoped nothing would happen to him.

+++

Something did happen to Buccaneer on the Promised Day. Fuhrer King Bradley came and stole the stage after Central was beginning to lose to the East and North armies. The captain and the Fuhrer clashed onto battle, but Bradley defeated Buccaneer easily. Greed and Fu then battled Bradley, but they were no match for him, the Homunculus killing Fu and tiring Greed out. Luckily, he was taken out thanks to Greed and one of the Briggs soliders, but the battle wasn’t over yet and there were still the Central forces to deal with. 

With Buccaneer gone, Falman was in charge for the time being. For how long, he wasn’t sure. He went and called in for the Briggs soldiers to fire at Central’s forces, as that was what Buccaneer would do. 

What happened next, he couldn’t remember it all. It was the first time he had ever said that in his life. There was a rumble and red light engulfing him (not just him, everyone, and that was where his memory failed him. The feeling was very vague to him, so he wasn’t able to describe it. Then just like that, he coughed and woke up again. Falman rushed to the soldiers to make sure everyone else was all right. They were all fine, but there was no time for them to catch their breaths when one of the men told him the Central troops were getting ready to attack. 

Again, Falman thought about what Buccaneer would do. Would the fallen captain continue fighting them if he was victim to the transmutation circle like him, or have a change of heart? For some reason, after what happened, still going against Central forces seemed wrong. 

“Officer Hiram, we’re not going to fire at them this time. I need a loudspeaker.”

Confusion crossed the soldier’s face, but the officer nodded and handed Falman the loudspeaker. 

“Attention Central troops, this is Warrant Officer Falman, now a Second Lieutenant.” Of course he had to make sure everyone knew of his recent promotion. “What we all just witnessed was a conspiracy the higher ups from our government did.”

Down below, the Central forces fell in chaos. They exploded in rage, screaming their frustration and disbelief at Falman. His face didn’t crack any emotion, but deep down he was afraid of what would come next.

 _What am I suppose to do now?_

Fortunately for him, he didn’t need to act. Some of the Briggs soldiers had made their move by surrounding them and aim their weapons at the Central troops—Falman knew though they wouldn’t fire but instead redirect them. Falman mentally sighed in relief and already had an idea what he should say now.

“Yes, I’m just as flabbergasted as you all are now when I found out about it a while back. So now, I ask you this. You still want to fight against us, knowing that everything we did before was a lie, or switch sides and fight with us?”

The Central forces murmured to themselves, hesitant over what to do at first. The second lieutenant didn’t expect a response from them immediately as it was a tough assessment to make—loyalty to your government or do what was right. It wasn’t long until they all then raised their fists and cheered. 

In the years to come when Falman reflected back to the last moments of the battle, he didn’t do much after that. That was fine though as, in the end, making the call to not fire was his best moment by far. 

+++

A couple days after the Promised Day was over, Mustang, now blind, had asked for his help with revising the Ishval policies. Falman gladly accepted because he wanted to work under the colonel again and admired how ambitious he was to do such a task despite his handicap. Hawkeye, Fuery, and Breda were going to help out as well. 

One day during a rare break, the topic of Falman’s time at Briggs came up. 

“So, you were the one that knocked out Sloth?” the colonel asked, amusement laced in his tone. 

“Yes,” Falman responded, nodding. “Well, the Elrics did the finishing job, but the general thought I was clever in doing that.”

“Nice! I wouldn’t have thought of that,” Fuery said.

“I guess being at Briggs did you good," Hawkeye said with a pleased smile.

“You could say that, yes.” Falman gave an embarrassed laugh. As he was about to continue on with his stories, there was a knock at the door. 

“Second Lieutenant Falman, are you here?”

“General Armstrong!” Mustang called out in surprise.

Immediately, Olivier slid open the door and tossed the blind man a disgruntled look. 

“Hello, Mustang. I’m glad you finally got payback for being a disgrace to the military.”

Roy looked annoyed. “Hey! I helped you take down the higher ranks!”

“When was I ever nice to you?” The smirk on her face faded when she added, “You’re right, though. I should be thanking you, at least. So yes, I’m glad that this North-East joint worked out in the end.” 

“Same here,” Mustang said, beaming. Falman knew that was all the thanks the colonel would get from General Armstrong and that he accepted it. 

“Enough of this nonsense. I came here to speak to Falman.”

Falman caught a glimpse of everyone in the room and could see they were all surprised. His own expression had to look similar.

“What brings you here, General Armstrong?”

“I need you to return to Briggs with me. I was originally going to let you stay with Mustang, however…” She looked at the colonel, no hint of planning to say something rude to him. “I’m going to have Major Miles help you with that.”

Falman glanced at the colonel’s shocked face. Nonetheless, Mustang graciously accepted Miles’ help. The second lieutenant thought his heart skipped a beat, though, when General Armstrong said she needed him.

“You want me back? Why?”

“I’m short a few men, and you proved to me you can survive Briggs.”

There were no words that Falman could say that showed how much that meant to him, despite his vast vocabulary. Rarely did she say that to her men, and he knew many soldiers who proved to be better survivors than he was. Not wanting to stand around like an idiot anymore, Falman faced the colonel. 

“Sir, are you fine with this?”

Mustang responded with a smile. “I’m fine with that, Falman. Really, I appreciate all the work you've done for me. Good luck at Briggs.” 

As soon as the colonel saluted to Falman, Breda, Fuery, and Hawkeye followed suit. He froze at first, feeling overwhelmed. Falman saluted back and left the hospital room with Olivier. 

+++

The funeral for the fallen Briggs soldiers was a quiet but intimate affair. All the men and women that attended were in their finest uniforms, including the general. Olivier gave a speech about how she was proud of all of her soldiers and that the ones that died are now soaring higher somewhere higher than Briggs. After the service was over, Falman waited until everyone left so that he could be alone with Buccaneer. 

Standing at his grave, Falman stood straight and had his arms down. A tear streamed down his cheek. 

“Buccaneer, I want to thank you for being a great friend to me. Without you, I would have quit the military. Thank you for saving me from Fuhrer Bradley. Sorry that I cried out there. I was sure of my fate and scared of it. But you’re right, I shouldn’t have cried while trying to act like a man.” A silly grin held onto his face, but then Falman frowned. “You have done a lot for me and I appreciate it.” 

He wiped the tear from his face and saluted. He was like that for a while until—

“Daddy, daddy!”

A boy no older than three tackled Falman’s back, causing the man to fall onto the snow. Still on the ground, the solider turned and saw the boy laughing. Falman chuckled back and got up while at the same time picking his son up. 

“Why did you tackle me, Gregory?”

“Mommy, Collen, and I have been waiting for you in the car. The baby is starting to get cranky.” 

“Oh, sorry about that. Well, I’m just about done, so let’s go home.”

Falman sat his son on his solider and the two were off. While walking, the second lieutenant glanced at Buccaneer’s grave and saluted one last time. 

Hawkeye was right that Briggs did change him for the better. He was able to do things he thought weren’t possible for him, and it showed him that he was more useful than he thought. He was the man that went down East, but came up North.


End file.
